Definitely Different Here
by FrankKaminsky
Summary: Naruto is disappointed with his genin teammates, specifically Sasuke. He decides, to leave instead of wait for the arrival of Kakashi, and in doing so causes dramatic changes to the Naruto universe. Naruto x Pakura story, however, the pairing will take a long time to develop.
1. Chapter 1

**Trying a Naruto x Pakura Story. I didn't see much of her and thought she was an intriguing character. I'm not sure about the age of Pakura so since this is my story, lets assume Pakura is 18, and Naruto is 14.**

* * *

Definitely Different Here

It was evening in Konoha, the evening after Naruto had defeated Mizuki, and two men were gathering at Ichiraku's ramen stand. On the left sat a blonde-haired kid wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. On his face, you could observe three whisker-marks on each of his cheeks. Over his forehead stood his brand-new forehead protector given to him the day before. His sky blue eyes stood out compared to the orange and red of the sunset over him. His name: Naruto Uzumaki.

On the opposite side sat a much taller man, wearing a green Chunin vest. His brown hair was tied into a spiky ponytail that took the attention away from the scar across his face. He was Iruka Umino, a teacher at the Ninja Academy in Konoha, who was currently repenting for his past ignorance of his boisterous student, Naruto, by spending time with his ramen-loving student.

"Iruka-sensei, I'll be the best Hokage ever, believe it!" Naruto said, amidst stuffing his face with his sixth bowl of miso ramen.

"I'm sure you will become Hokage eventually Naruto." Seeing Naruto's confused face Iruka sighed and explained "Eventually means some day Naruto"

"Just, remember, while being Hokage is a great goal, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons." Iruka stated, "You don't have to know now, just think about it why don't you?" Iruka said as he payed for their meals. Pulling out his wallet, he sighed, 'Damn that boy sure does eat a lot'

"See you around Naruto I've got to get to work on my lesson plan for tomorrow" Iruka said as he left the ramen stand to return home.

"Cya around Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled

Naruto began to ponder on his way home to his apartment, _'What are my reasons for becoming Hokage? To be recognized….? No…. hmmm? To take the old man's hat? No….'_

"I'm not exactly sure what my reasons for becoming Hokage are" Naruto grumbled as he opened the door to his apartment. "Bahh! It doesn't matter, like Iruka-sensei said, I'll become Hokage evventau… eventl-ey… aghhhh! Some day!

Throwing his night cap, and pajamas, on Naruto wandered around his small apartment given to him by the Hokage. His apartment consisted of the basic amenities: a stove, fridge, table, bed, shower, all of lower quality due to his tenant's tax, issued by local storeowners; of which he still remained oblivious to. On his window sill stood a variety of plants he'd acquired from various stores including the Yamanaka family shop.

Naruto proceeded with his nightly routine: watering his plants, taking a shower, and performing a light workout of pushups and sit-ups. This workout routine was one of the few things he'd picked up from the teachers at the Academy.

* * *

"I wonder who my Jounin-sensei will be! I bet he'll teach me some amazing Jutsu, believe it!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards the academy the following morning. Ignoring the hatred on the faces of the villagers as he passed, Naruto ran into the academy to sit in his usual seat: on the edge, near the middle walkway, with Shikamaru on his right, and Choji to the right of Shikamaru.

Shikamaru wore a fishnet shirt with a grey jacket on top of it, around his left arm his forehead protector was tied. On his face, he wore a consistently non-caring face towards everyone or thing around him. He had black hair tied into a spiky ponytail.

"Naruto, team assignments are for graduates onl-…" Shikamaru grumbled as he raised his head from its previous spot laying on the desk. "It's too troublesome to explain just don't disturb my sleeping" Shikamaru sighed as his head returned to his previous spot.

"It's great to see you too Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled, "I had an, uhh, alternate exam! I passed too, though, see?!" Naruto said, pointing at his headband.

Choji had a round-build with swirl markings on both of his cheeks. He wore a light green shirt plastered with the kanji for food. Around his neck he wore a long-white scarf. He had brown hair that stuck upwards, with his forehead protector around his forehead.

"Great job Naruto" Choji said before he returned to munching on his chips.

A shout from the entrance alerted the boys to the presences of their fellow classmates: Sasuke Uchicha, and his fangirls.

Sasuke proceeded to walk down to his seat

"Sasukeeeee-kun, sit with me!" Sakura shouted running after the black-haired boy.

"Shut up forehead! Sasuke-kun only sits with the most beautiful girls!" Ino shouted running into the classroom. Her blonde hair splaying out in front of her once she stopped, due to the speed she ran chasing after the black-haired boy.

"Quiet! Take a seat Sakura and Ino! Class, today is the day of your genin team assignments! Iruka yelled as he walked into the classroom

"Pay attention and I will call out your teammates and your Jounin-sensei. After you find out your team wait with your teammates and your sensei will come pick you up for introductions." Iruka stated

' _As long as I don't have Sasuke-teme on my team, I'll be fine'_ Naruto thought as he proceeded to lay his head down, similarly to Shikamaru _. 'I'm sure it's fine if I take a nap, my teammates will definitely alert me to who they're after I wake up, I'm sure.'_ Naruto thought as he fell asleep and entered the dream world.

* * *

' _Is that the old man at Ichiraku's?'_ Naruto thought during his walk to his favorite ramen stand in Konoha. _'I wonder if they have a special kind of Hokage ramen. If I was Hokage I'd definitely have a Hokage ramen, it'd be double the size of my regular! If I follow him maybe I can add another ramen to what I know of the Ichiraku's secret menu.'_

"Yes, that's a great idea, believe it!" Naruto quietly shouted as he crouched looking for an adequate hiding spot to observe the old man. Hiding in the bushes directly across from Ichiraku's he awaited to hear about this secret menu addition.

"I'll have the usual" Hiruzen told Ayame as she took his order.

"One usual coming right up, Hokage-sama" Ayame said cheerfully.

Awaiting to hear the name of the old man's "usual" Naruto smelled a new aroma. This smell lifted Ichiraku's from making ramen for the gods, to making ramen an actual deity.

' _Please ramen god, allow me the name of this special order; I will order it every day for the rest of my life believe it!'_

Teuchi slowly walked over, a bowl of steaming ramen in his hands, "Here's your order of Hok-…"

* * *

"…Dobe."

'Whaaaa…' Naruto thought awakening from his dream

"Dobe!" Sasuke yelled

"…. Ramen?" Naruto mumbled as he lifted his head and noticed Sasuke standing over him, "What's up teme?" He sighed as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Hn. We're teammates." Sasuke said as he walked away.

"Whaaaa?! Me and the teme are going to be teammates!" Naruto shouted. "Bahh I'll tell old-man Hokage, he'll definitely change the teams for me! No way will I be on a team with the teme." Naruto said as he ran out of the classroom. _He failed to notice_ his crush, Sakura, was also waiting behind for their new sensei, and that she would also be on their team.

* * *

"Old-man! I've got a problem!" Naruto yelled, bursting into the Hokage's office.

Sitting at his desk was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man known as the "God of Shinobi", former teacher of the Sannin, and the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. He wore his Hokage outfit: red Hokage robes, with the red Hokage hat.

"Hmm? What's your problem Naruto?" Hiruzen asked cautiously

"It's Sasuke-teme! He's on my genin team! _Pleeeeaaaasssseee_ , old man, can you place me on a different squad?!" Naruto begged

Hiruzen sighed, _'I thought he'd be happy he was placed on the same team as his crush.'_

"Naruto I can't switch the genin team assignments" Hiruzen said, "These teams are meant to be balanced out, so that the dead-last is paired with the top student and another average student. This way your team has a greater chance for success in the field"

"Noooooooooooo" Naruto moaned, "I can't be on the same team as the teme!" Naruto yelled, running out of the Hokage's offices. _'I can't believe the old man wouldn't change my team!'_ Naruto thought as he ran through the streets of Konoha.

"Watch out boy!" a street vendor yelled at him

"Sorry!" Naruto yelled, continuing his sprint.

* * *

Come afternoon, Naruto had arrived to his favorite spot, save Ichiraku's, in all of Konoha: the Hokage monuments. It had started raining fifteen minutes prior to his arrival at the Hokage monuments. Going towards his favorite thinking spot: the top of the Yondaime's monument. On his way to sit down Naruto noticed an orange-haired woman with a Suna forehead-protector there as well.

Coming closer, Naruto got a better look at the woman across from him. She wore a sleeveless, backless, top, with two black straps extending across her back that showed that showed off her slim figure. She wore purple sleeves across her arms, and purple shorts, that showed off her long tanned legs. Bandages surrounded her ankles, and her midsection, and on her feet, she wore black sandals. She had green hair tied into a bun, with bright orange tips- Naruto's favorite color. All-in-all she was one of the most beautiful women that Naruto had ever seen.

The woman sighed, "I just wanted to better the alliance between Konoha and Suna, but they refused to allow us any of the missions that the Wind Daimyo is giving them."

"Hello mi-"The woman suddenly appeared behind him, with a kunai placed across his throat.

"Who're you?! And what're you doing here?!" She yelled in his ear.

"Eh? I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, "And as for why I'm here, this is where I usually go to relax. Bear witness to the greatest spot in all of Konoha!" He shouted, waving his arms around for emphasis, despite being held by the woman. "At least, the greatest spot when it's not raining, and you aren't attacked by a stranger" he mumbled out.

"Oh, sorry." She said, _'Just an academy student'_ , "Don't worry I was just leaving." she said.

"Ok! Bye miss…" Naruto said.

"Pakura" She said while leaving the area.

"Bye Pakura!" Naruto exclaimed. _'She was more beautiful than Sakura…No! Bad thoughts! Sakura is definitely prettier. Pakura doesn't have pink hair, and she attacked me! Yea Sakura is definitely more beautiful than her'_ Naruto thought as he laid down on top of the Yondaime's statue. _'I should probably go see my team…nah. It's too troublesome'_ Naruto thought as he lied down to sleep- his tenant giving him warmth despite the rain.

* * *

Somewhere a student with black pineapple hair sneezed, _'Troublesome'_ he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Worried this might get to angst or hurt/comfort with what I have planned for it. Not sure yet, but if it does it will only be temporary. If you are one of the people who read the first posting of Chapter 2, sorry, I forgot to correct some mistakes and had to take it down for a couple minutes.**

Chapter 2:

Walking down the streets of Konoha, Pakura attempted to figure out what she would do with the remaining half of her day, as she planned to leave for her home the following afternoon. It was only the afternoon of her second day there, yet, she figured her time in Konoha had already been a waste. _'What a waste of a trip'_ she thought, as she mindlessly sat down at a food stand for lunch.

"Would you like to place an order?" a brown-haired waitress asked, while smiling gently. The waitress looked to be about a teenager, wearing a white apron, and a small white hat that rested on top of her long brown hair.

Pakura nodded, "Sure, I'll have an order of your miso ramen."

"One order of the miso!" the brown-haired girl shouted, into the depths of what Pakura now knew to be a ramen stand.

"I'm Ayame" the waitress introduced herself, "Have you seen a boy with blonde hair, dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit running around Konoha by any chance?" Ayame asked, "He missed his regular time for lunch here, and I've been asking all of our customers to try and locate him."

"I'm Pakura, and as a matter of fact I just saw a boy similar to that description on top of the Hokage monument." Pakura told the waitress. Hoping to at least make herself feel good on an otherwise failure of a day Pakura asked, "Would you like me to go see if he's alright after I finish my lunch?" After all, loyal Suna shinobi didn't get much chances for uplifting moments anyways.

"If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it" Ayame answered, as she chuckled, "He hasn't missed one of his ramen appointments yet, and he's been coming here for years."

"No problem, I'll take care of it after I eat." Pakura answered curtly. "We can't have Naruto missing out on his ramen appointments, now can we?" She joked, using his name that he'd mentioned to her earlier. _'Regular ramen appointments sure explain his lack of height'_ she thought, smirking.

"One miso, for the pretty lady" the chef said as he delivered her ramen. He was an older man, with wrinkles that gave little room for doubting his old age. He wore the same outfit as the waitress, save for a chef hat located on top of his head.

As the steaming bowl of ramen sat in front of her Pakura was shocked, _'How's that boy not fat yet if he eats this daily! Even with my own ninja training, if I ate this everyday I'd gain weight!'_ Pakura thought as she gawked briefly, before beginning to eat her meal.

"Something wrong with your food?" Ayame asked

"No, I was just surprised that boy isn't fat yet if he eats this daily." Pakura mentioned between bites.

"Ahh, don't worry about his weight. He has some kind of super metabolism." Ayame said giggling, before she left to wash dishes.

Pakura finished her meal soon after she was left alone. Leaving the payment on the countertop, she left to find the blond-haired boy she met earlier.

* * *

It was still raining. Suna rarely, if ever, received rain; In addition, Pakura's _Scorch_ and _Fire release_ were both weakened by water, and as a result, Pakura _hated_ the rain. _'I don't understand what these tree-huggers love about this weather'_ she thought, sighing. Pakura hated water, period; Konoha just wasn't for her. _'At least the rain can't get any worse than this'_ she thought, sighing again.

As Pakura reached the Hokage monument, it started to rain harder than she thought was possible. _Splat, splat, splat, splat._

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!" She yelled, as she looked for cover. _'Is this a Water Jutsu?'_ she thought, looking around frantically. To investigate her suspicions, she took a peak at the sky, and was rewarded with two water droplets in her amber eyes. Temporarily blinded, she slowly stomped to where she'd noticed cover was. For once, she regretted not having a jacket with her. Grumbling incoherent curses as she finished rubbing the water out of her eyes, she decided to proceed with her self-imposed mission. As she continued to where she last saw the blonde-haired boy, she could only hope he was still there.

As she reached the Yondaime's statue, she saw Naruto laying on top of the Yondaime's head, snoring quietly. She couldn't help but notice the dampness of his orange jump-suit, and realized that he must've been sleeping out in the rain since she'd last seen him. With an urgency to get the boy warm, she dragged him to the tree she'd used previously to shelter from the rain. Using basic fire manipulation, she lit a fire near the tree to provide him warmth.

' _I can't believe this boy managed to fall asleep, while being rained on! He must be either incredibly stupid, a really heavy sleeper, or unnaturally warm, in order to sleep during this kind of weather'_ She thought, while placing the clothes near the newly formed flame.

After 30 minutes of waiting his once-damp clothes were finally dry. Pakura was pleased with herself, _'At least, now I've done something right today"_ she thought, smiling to herself. She then retrieved his orange jumpsuit and went to place it back on the boy.

Midway to Naruto, she paused, having noticed a seal on the boy's belly. _'Is he... a jinchuuriki? It'd certainly explain how he didn't have frostbite after remaining in the rain for near 4 hours, and those whisker marks too.'_ she pondered while touching the aforementioned marks, _'Yes, he must be. Kazekage-sama would salivate at having another jinchuuriki in his arsenal, one who's not insane. I just need to get to know the boy, and then he'll certainly come back with me. Jinchuurikis are never treated well, anyways.'_

Suddenly she heard a shifting next to her, looking to her left as she noticed the boy beginning to sit up.

"Hey Pakura!" Naruto said while yawning. "Where am I? What're you doing here?" Naruto asked, interrogating her.

"A certain ramen stand waitress told me I should come find you, as you'd missed your daily ramen" She told him, bending down from her height of 5'5 to his 5-foot stature.

"Ah! I forgot! Gotta go see Ayame, see you later Pakura!" Naruto shouted, attempting to run off to Ichiraku's, before Pakura grabbed his wrist.

"Naruto, I want to talk to you, can you sit down for a second, you already missed your normal lunch time anyways?" Pakura asked, gesturing to the ground beneath them.

"Ehhh? Sure, I guess. What do you want to talk about hmm?" Naruto asked cautiously before sitting down, few people had ever shown interest in him before.

"I just want to ask you a few things, and get to know you a little better. Us orange-lovers have to stick together, right?" She asked him, smiling, as she lowered her fist to him.

"That's right! Orange is the best color, believe it! Fire away!" Naruto shouted, fist-bumping her fist.

"Great, why don't we start with basic introductions: likes, dislikes, goals, hobbies. I'll go first." She said while sitting down across from him. "My name's Pakura, as you know. I like cacti, tomato soup, and reading, and the color orange as it reminds me of the hot-desert of Suna. My hobbies include: gardening, reading, and cooking, as well as assisting at the Suna academy. I dislike people who're mean to children, rain, snow, hail, and anything that's cold" she said, shivering at each mention of cold weather. "My life's goal is to continue being a loyal kunoichi to Suna", "Now, your turn." She said while gesturing towards Naruto.

* * *

A distance away, behind some bushes, crouched two ANBU members, monitoring Naruto as ordered by their Hokage. On the left was a Bear masked ANBU, and to his right crouched his teammate, a Cat masked ANBU.

"I'm sure we can leave, she's a kunoichi of Suna. Suna couldn't afford anything that would harm their already shaky relationship with us." Cat said turning to her Bear-masked partner.

"Hmmm. The Hokage did mention we don't have to monitor him around the clock. When he's with trusted-individuals or sleeping, we can take breaks. And she _was_ trusted to meet with the Hokage himself. I think a break sounds good Cat." Bear said, "We can resume in the morning" Bear said, before he took off towards his home.

"What a boring task…." Cat grumbled, before taking off in the same direction as her partner.

* * *

Oblivious to the fact that the two ANBU watching him had left, Naruto proceeded with his introduction.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, orange, Iruka-sensei, the old man, and my plants. My hobbies are watering my plants, eating ramen at Ichiraku's, and pranking! I dislike mean people, being made fun of, and Sasuke-teme! Naruto exclaimed, "My goal is to take the old man's hat and be Hokage, believe it!" Naruto shouted, determination showing in his sky-blue eyes.

' _The old man he's talking about must be the Hokage'_ Pakura thought, smirking at the idea of the infamous "God of Shinobi" being called an old man. _'I bet he loves that title'_ Pakura thought with sarcasm.

"Those are good goals. I'm sure you'll become Hokage one day" Pakura told him, _'Not if I succeed in getting you to Suna. It's a shame, he seems like a nice boy; loyalty to Suna always come first, though.'_

"Do you like the people of Konoha that much, that you'd want to be Hokage" Pakura asked him.

"I want them to like me? Does that count? Then we'll like each other, right?" Naruto asked, scrunching up his face in confusion.

' _Ah so Konoha's jinchuuriki isn't treated well either'_ Pakura thought. "Maybe. But if they don't appreciate you now, why would you ever want to give your life for them?". Pakura said, while leaning back to stretch. _'The seed of doubt is planted'_ She thought mischievously.

"I guess so…." Naruto said looking dejected, "I still want to take the old man's hat though." Naruto said regaining some of his usual confidence.

' _Baby steps.'_ Pakura thought, "You know where I'm from in Suna, we treat our ninjas a lot better", _'Half- truth?'_ "If you wanted to come with me when I return, I'm sure you'd be a lot happier" Pakura told him.

"I can't leave! Konoha's my home!" Naruto shouted. "I'm sure Suna is great and all, but they don't have a Hokage monument, or Ichira- "Naruto, rambled, before Pakura snuck up behind him and hit him in the head, knocking him out.

"I was never the most patient anyways, and it's not like anyone is around." Pakura stated as she began to remove the bandages surrounding her midriff; she had noticed the ANBU leave earlier. _'I need to make him unrecognizable if I'm going to sneak him out of the village'_ she thought as she wrapped said bandages around his spiky blonde hair. _'Now that his hair is out of view I need to get rid of his easily identifiable jumpsuit. Aha I know what to do'_ she thought as she took his orange jacket off exposing his black shirt that he wore underneath. She sealed the orange jacket away in a scroll, _'He'll probably want to keep it'_ she thought.

Next, to disguise his pants, she took them off him and rolled them around in the mud, which was in abundance due to the downpour overhead. As she placed them back on him she was finished; _'If anyone asks he's my apprentice, and he came with me on a diplomatic mission'_ she went over in her head. Smirking at the beginning of a successful capture, Pakura threw Naruto over her shoulder and began to head to the hotel, _'He should be out for another hour, and then I'll administer the paralyzing agent Lady Chiyo gave us for hostages. I have five doses; If I leave tomorrow, they should last until we reach Suna.'_ She thought making her way back to the hotel. It had stopped raining as soon as she began to leave the Hokage monument.

Naruto, now, looked completely different. He had bandages surrounding his head and one of his eyes. He wore a black t-shirt, and muddy brown and green pants. If you were to look at him, he looked to be exhausted from a training session; not in the process of being kidnapped by a foreign shinobi.

* * *

Pakura reached her hotel without incident. The hotel was provided to her by Konoha, as she was on a diplomatic mission. It was now around ten, and she had just administered Naruto's first dosage of the paralysis. According to Chiyo, subjects that received the paralysis would be limited to moving only their eyes for 24 hours.

* * *

Meanwhile inside Naruto's mindscape a demon fox pondered his container's current situation. _**'If she gets the brat to Suna, he'll be away from the damned village that imprisoned me. His father would be rolling around in his grave if he ever found it. Yes, yes, I like this plan, I won't interfere, yet.'**_

* * *

Pakura figured she needed to acquire some new clothes for Naruto, incase Konoha-nin used his scent to track their position. She figured she had around eight or nine hours until the ANBU would return to their duty.

Walking around the city at night proved uneventful as most of the villagers had gone asleep, leaving the streets, and stores unattended. Knowing no stores would be open that late in the night, Pakura was forced to break into a store called, "Shinobi Gear and Tools". Breaking into a civilian-owned store was effortless for an Elite Jounin, like Pakura.

Once inside, she decided on a set of plain dark green t-shirts, brown shorts, and a pair of black sandals for her traveling 'companion'. _'He'd probably complain if he didn't have something orange'_ Pakura thought as she picked up a set of orange t-shirts, _'He won't be able to wear these until we get to Suna, but I think he'll appreciate these. Maybe these will help ensure his loyalty"_ she mused silently, as she also acquired some more bandages, to replace the ones across her midsection.

Now finished, she sealed her newly acquired clothes and supplies, and headed back to the hotel where her traveling companion awaited.

* * *

Pakura arrived back at the hotel around eleven in the evening. She cautiously opened the door to her room in case of potential intruders breaking into her apartment. If she was caught attempting to steal Konoha's jinchuuriki, it'd lead to war, and she'd be executed. She couldn't afford that.

Pakura replaced Naruto's pants and shirt with the new clothes she purchased, and slowly took his blue sandals off, to replace them with his new black ones. She sealed all of his old clothes, including his Konoha forehead protector (which she planned to burn later), to avoid his old clothes being used to track them down. She would've burned them, but, she didn't want to draw attention to their hotel room. She kept the bandages on, in order to avoid drawing attention to his bright blonde hair. _'I'm pretty sure he's the only one in Konoha with spiky blonde hair'_ She thought. _'If I leave now, the guard rotation will be different from when I entered the village, as they'll be the night-shift rotation. They'll have no way of knowing Naruto didn't enter the village with me'_ she thought smirking.

Finally, ready to leave, she tossed Naruto over her back, making sure his eyes were turned towards the ground, and headed for the Main Gate. She walked slowly towards the gates, as to not arouse suspicion. _'I've never captured someone from their own village before'_ she mused.

As she reached the gate she saw two shinobi guarding the gate. _'Definitely different guards from when I entered the village. Probably Chunin-level nins judging by their vests. If things went south, I could easily take them both out.'_ She thought calmly. Her experience allowed her to seem calm even in the most stressful of situations.

"Hello miss, what is your business leaving Konoha?" The man on the right of the gate asked her.

"I was here in order to attempt to better the relationship between Konoha and Suna. Now that my mission has finished, I'd like to return to my home in Suna. This boy on my shoulder, is my apprentice" She stated, pointing with her other hand at Naruto. "He left his Suna headband at home, like a dunce. He would've been able to tell you this, if he hadn't overworked himself training" She said, sighing.

She handed the guard on the right her Shinobi Registration I.D. "I'm Pakura, and he's Idate Hagani."

The inspection, and subsequent wait for approval, seemed like an eternity for Pakura. Just because she seemed calm, didn't mean she _was_ by any means. She was freaking out on the inside. _'This is it, for Suna's sake I hope we get past these pesky guards'_ she thought as the guard began to open his mouth.

"You can proceed." The right guard motioned for her to leave, "Just remember, if you come to the village another time, remember to check in around this time. Wouldn't want to miss a beautiful face like you again now would we, Izumo?" the guard said smiling lecherously.

"Stop, Kotetsu." The guard on the left, now known as Izumo stated. "Don't pay any attention to him, he had a little too much to drink before we were on duty. You guys are free to go" Izumo stated motioning towards the open gates.

"Thanks." Pakura said, giving Izumo a brief wave, as she sprinted into the forests.

* * *

Pakura kept a Jounin's pace the entire trip to Suna. With Naruto on her back, it took her about three and a half days to reach her home. She was ecstatic at the success of her self-appointed mission, and couldn't even begin to imagine the Kazekage's reaction to their new asset.

She waved to the guards as she entered the gate, not bothering to stop, as they recognized her immediately. She was fairly well-known around the village, being an Elite Jounin, and possessing a rare bloodline limit.

* * *

Pakura burst into the Kazekage's offices.

Sitting in front of her sat Rasa, the Yondaime Kazekage, infamous for using his Magnet Release. He had red hair, and wore the typical green Kazekage robes and hat.

"Hello, Pakura. How was your mission, and who is your souvenir there?" He said gesturing to the boy over her shoulder.

"Kazekage-sama." Pakura said, bowing to her leader, "The mission was a mixed bag of results. Konoha refused to part with any of the missions that the Wind Daimyo has been giving them, instead of us. At the same time, however, I was able to escape with Konoha's jinchuuriki, of what I believe to be the nine-tailed fox. He is stable, to the best of my knowledge, and I believe he can be an asset to our village." Pakura told the man before her.

"Another jinchuuriki, huh? It would be beneficial, to our village's security if we had two demon containers. He would be a valuable weapon for our village, especially if the leaf village doesn't know we possess him.", the Kazekage stated. "Please take him to a cell and we'll begin the process of making him loyal to Suna" the Kazekage told her.

Pakura cringed at the boy on her back being called a _weapon_. Yet, she knew, sacrifices would have to be made in order to ensure the safety of her home. _'I just hope he's treated like a human being while they 'ensure his loyalty'.'_ she thought glancing at the boy on her back as she took off towards his new home. _'I can check on him from time to time, and make sure he stays sane. I can even take some time off between missions, and spend some time in his cell with him'_ she thought as she opened the door to his sand cell. _'I haven't had much, if any, time for making friends in the past few years, anyways.'_ She thought, as she placed him on the bed. _'I just hope he forgives me for taking him away from his village, I was just doing my duty as a loyal kunoichi to Suna, after all._ ' She contemplated as she closed the door to his new home.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Konoha a Bear-masked ANBU entered the Hokage's offices.

"Hokage-sama we have a problem." Bear frantically told the Hokage.

"Yes, what is it?" Hiruzen asked, gesturing for Bear to continue with his report.

"Naruto's missing, sir, we can't find him anywhere." Bear told him, sighing.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is going to be some build up for the time skip I plan to do next chapter. Some OCs are going to be introduced. Thanks for the reviews too, I love reading them (even those of the Kaminsky criticizer -_-). (*Thursday Update*) Gonna switch to weekly updates now, school's catching up on me)**

* * *

Chapter 3

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Hiruzen yelled, "He's a loud kid, wearing a bright orange, kill-me, jumpsuit and you _lost_ him?!"

"Well technical-" the Hokage gave him an icy stare, "Yes, I lost the brat. I've searched the village but it seems like he's outside of our village's boundaries." Bear sighed out.

"Do me a favor and go gather your ANBU comrades" the Hokage said, preparing himself for a massive headache.

"Yes, sir." Bear said as he bowed, and then left the room.

"So much for an elite unit…" Hiruzen said, rubbing his eyes.

Later, Bear's ANBU squad returned, as well as two other ANBU squads. Among them were Cat and Bear, the two most responsible for Naruto's disappearance.

"So, since Cat and Bear were on duty to monitor Naruto, I think we can all agree that they should both be demoted to Special-Jounin, and forced to teach at the Academy for 3 months with decreased pay" Hiruzen said, staring coldly at the aforementioned pair.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama" Cat and Bear said simultaneously, forced to accept their punishment.

"Dismissed" Hiruzen said waving the two off. "Next, we have the problem of Naruto. I want squads to be sent to the borders of Fire Country to monitor for any unusual Shinobi leaving the country. I also want suspicious villagers interrogated in case they took action against him due to his tenant. I want to be immediately noticed when you find the boy." he said waving the remaining ANBU off. _'I really need to get Jiraiya searching for him.'_ he thought, sighing.

* * *

Naruto was in the process of running through a world in which he could see nothing. Darkness surrounded him on all sides. He couldn't speak, or hear, as well. He couldn't even tell his muscles were moving.

The only way reason he knew he was moving at all was because once in a while he would run into an object, and trip. Then he would realize he was sprawled out on the ground, get up, and repeat the process. This continued for what felt like _hours_. He couldn't tell the actual duration, though, as he couldn't see due to the darkness.

' _This is really weird'_ he thought as he was running, _'I hope this is a dream. It does feel similar to when Pakura was carrying me, though.'_ he thought as he continued to run through the darkness, _'Pakura… carrying…Aha! I need to wake up, I have no idea where she took me!'_ he thought.

* * *

Naruto woke with a jolt, _'What a weird dream'_ he thought.

He was in an unfamiliar location; Pakura had knocked him out as they met with the Kazekage. As he opened his eyes he found himself staring at a sand-covered ceiling, in a room without windows. The walls, similar to the ceiling, also were covered in sand. The bed he was laying on was in the right corner of the room, and was the only furniture around. On his wrists were chakra cuffs, they weren't connected, however. Reaching out to touch the sand, however, he found that it was dry, and hard, almost like sandstone. Naruto had never seen sand before, though.

"What, is this orange-yellow material?" he asked to himself, "And where the hell am I?!" he yelled as he sat up and placed his feet on the floor. He felt something odd between his toes, "Lemme guess more of that _stuff_." Naruto said, sighing.

He finally noticed the entrance to his room, if it could be called that. The only part of it that allowed it to be considered an entrance, was the vertical bars on its upper-half. It resembled more of a barred door, which were found primarily in jails.

"Ughhhh" Naruto, grumbled, dragging his feet across the weird substance beneath his feet. "I remember Iruka saying at the Academy I need to analyze the situation, I think. But, what's there to analyze?! It looks like I'm in a cell!" Naruto yelled, "It'd make sense though, Pakura did capture me…." Naruto said dejectedly as he moved back to lay down on his bed.

' _Another person who hates me.'_ Naruto thought staring up at the ceiling. Unnoticed by him, two wet drops fell from his eyes; he had been mistreated for a long time. Pakura was different, though, he thought he could _trust_ her and she betrayed him.

Suddenly the barred door to his cell, opened, and in walked an imposing man. He stood around 5'10, with broad shoulders, and a chest that resembled one of a body-builder. His face was rough and appeared to be one of a seasoned-shinobi. He wore a Suna headband across his forehead, and had a scruffy black beard. His eyes were cold black pits. He was a bald man, with burns surrounding his missing left ear.

"Demon." He said stepping towards Naruto. "You're now in Suna, and reside in my territory." he stepped in front of Naruto, as he crouched down to his height. "This prison belongs to me, and that includes you, Demon. To you, I'm Leader, and until you are deemed loyal to Suna, you won't leave this cell."

Naruto would've objected if not for the man's commanding presence, "Yes sir?" he stated timidly.

"Not sir! Leader!" the man now known as Leader, shouted, punching Naruto hard in the stomach. "You have a couple of people to meet before we get started, Demon." he said releasing killer intent as he talked to the boy, who now sat trembling, against the wall. "Don't embarrass me." he finished as he left the room.

' _Definitely a prison. They seem to know of my tenant too'_ Naruto thought as he felt a feeling that had escaped him since he was younger: fear.

Naruto crawled back to his original spot and stared at the ceiling, hoping, praying, that someone would help him escape this hellhole. He'd already experienced enough of it. _'I need to be brave, just like with the villagers'_ he thought to himself, as he fell back asleep.

* * *

Four hours later, Naruto woke up to another _eeeeek_ that signified the opening of his cell door. Thinking it was Leader again, Naruto decided to have some fun, regardless of the consequences.

"Hello!" he shouted as loud as he could, as his next visitor entered.

Unbeknownst to Naruto this man, was a much more important visitor. He wore green robes, and a green hat signifying that this man was the Kazekage. He had rusty red hair, that was almost a maroon color. His eyes were small black dots, and gave little room to doubt the responsibilities of Kages, they were tired-looking with dark circles underneath them.

"Hello, Naruto, I'm your Kazekage." The man before him stated calmly. "I give you one piece of advice. Forget Konoha. You will remain in here until you're loyal to Suna, and until you forget those tree-huggers, you won't see the light of day." The man began to walk out of his cell, "You won't see me again, until you are loyal, Demon." The man said coldly, mentioning his newly assigned name, as he shut the door to the one-room cell.

"I'll never forget Konoha!" Naruto shouted. "Just like I'll never be loyal to Suna!"

Unfortunately for him, Leader, was listening in on this conservation outside his cell. He would make sure to punish Demon for this _incident_ , later.

* * *

The next visitor Naruto received was in the evening, at least that's what he thought. Unfortunately, he had no clock or window to the outside, and as a result couldn't tell the time. That didn't keep him from guessing, though.

' _As long as it isn't that Leader guy. He freaks me out'_ Naruto thought as he awaited his new visitor.

"This'll be your last visitor, Demon!" a voice that sounded like Leader's shouted.

"His name is Naruto, Aoki." a girl's voice stated.

' _That sounds like Pakura.'_ Naruto thought, _'I won't talk to her, believe it! She put me here!'_ he thought as he moved to the far corner of his bed and turned to face the wall.

* * *

Pakura walked in to see Naruto staring at the wall.

"Hello Naruto" she told him.

No response.

Pakura sighed, she realized he might be mad, but it never occurred to her that he'd blame herself for his capture. She was only doing her duty to her village, after all!

"Naruto, I brought you some ramen." she said as she set the steaming bowl of noodles down near his spot on the bed. "I hope you can forgive me for capturing you, I was just doing my duty to Suna. The Kazekage is sending me out on a long mission in the meantime. I won't be back for a while, but I'll make sure to check back in on you when I get back. I'll bring ramen too." she told him as she began to leave the room, "If you lose your allegiance to Konoha, you'll get out of here much faster. You don't want to be here for too long either. I've seen prisoners break after a few months with no sense of time, and Aoki's 'punishments'."

"I can never forget Konoha. It'll always be my home, believe it!" Naruto shouted, momentarily looking towards her. He didn't know what to answer in regards to her explanation.

Pakura turned towards him and he could see disappointment in her eyes, "If you're going to resist, find something to look forward to, or achieve. It'll help you keep your mind together, even if it's a menial task." she said, turning back towards the door, "I do regret you being put in this prison, Naruto." she told him as she left his cell.

"Me too." he said resting his head back on his pillow, as he picked up the ramen Pakura had left for him. Tomorrow Leader, or Aoki, would begin whatever punishments he felt necessary. He felt he could take Pakura's advice, even if he wasn't willing to forgive her.

' _I will remain loyal to Konoha, after all the Yondaime Hokage wouldn't give up in this situation, believe it!'_ Naruto thought as he finished his ramen, and set it down on the floor. _'I hope they have a janitor here, maybe I can ask Leader to take it for me'_ he thought before shivering at the fact that Leader would probably hit him for a question like that.

Naruto sat his head down on his pillow to sleep, he was unnaturally tired for some reason unknown to him. _'Must be ramen withdrawal, I haven't had ramen in days, after all'_ he thought.

As he stared at the ceiling he pondered Pakura's second piece of advice: finding something to look forwards to. _'Pakura did say she'd bring ramen when she checks on me, and ramen is ramen whoever it's eaten with. I can look forward to that, definitely.'_ Naruto thought happy with himself. _'I also hope to get out of here someday.'_

"Someday…" Naruto mumbled as he fell asleep facing the sand-covered wall.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Konoha, a silver-haired man was preparing his students for the life of a ninja, starting with the basis of all ninja-life: teamwork. Across his left eye was his Konoha forehead proctor, and below that a dark blue mask covered the bottom half of his face. He could be seen reading an orange book while leaning next to a tree. He was faced as if he was watching his students, but it _seemed_ like he was only focused on his orange book.

"Sakura, Sasuke, Sai. Again." the silver haired man told them, "You can't start training until you get your teamwork down."

In a triangle sat Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai: the triple S squad. On the left sat Sakura. She was a young teen, with long pink hair, and emerald-green eyes. She wore a red dress, with her forehead protector tied over the top of her head. To her right, sat Sasuke, a black-haired boy with soulless black eyes. He wore a blue-collared shirt with grey shorts. His headband, was placed across his forehead.

Furthest away, completing their triangle, was Sai. He had a pale countenance, with dark black hair, and a bandage-wrapped sword across his back. He wore an emotionless expression, as well as a black shirt with red stripes down both sides. Sai had been assigned to the team after Naruto had failed to show up for their team introductions.

"Yes, Kakashi." Sai replied immediately, motioning for Sakura to come to him, "Ugly, come here, we need to do our trust-falls to proceed."

They were still on the beginning teamwork exercise. This was their third day.

"Shut up Sai!" Sakura yelled at him as she stood up and walked towards Sasuke, "Sasuke will catch me!" Sakura exclaimed, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to become weightless.

Sasuke watched as she fell down to the ground, not bothering to catch her nor help her up. "Hnn." he said as he stood up and walked away. He could accomplish more through training by himself.

The silver haired man, sighed, as he flipped to the next page of the book. They would be on the beginner exercise for a lot longer at this pace. Watching his students brought his mind back to the disappearance of the student Sai had replaced: Naruto. _'I won't fail you again Minato-sensei. Next time I see Naruto, I will bring him back, even at the cost of my life.'_ he vowed.

* * *

The Hokage had just started on his next pile of paperwork, when his former-student, Jiraiya, entered in through the window of his office.

Jiraiya had spiky white hair that fell to his back. Across his forehead was a headband with the kanji for oil.

"Sensei, I got your message." Jiraiya said as he bowed to acknowledge him. He wore green robes with a red jacket. Across his back was a large scroll. Streaming down his eyes, were what looked to be red lines that almost resembled crying. He wore red stilted sandals.

"Stand Jiraiya." Hiruzen said, motioning for him to end his bow. "I've called you here, because we've lost Naruto." Jiraiya was about to protest, "Yes, I know. The people responsible have been dealt with." The Hokage said, handing him the report of Naruto's disappearance.

"We've three days where Naruto's whereabouts are unknown before his disappearance was reported by ANBU. I need you to see if you can find out what occurred during these days, and, in addition, to call upon your spy network to see if they can find the boy." The Hokage told him. "We've reason to believe he has left Fire Country, please bring him back Jiraiya."

"I'll do my best as the great toad sage!" Jiraiya said raising his fist, "It's possible though he's either dead or captured, and if that's the case it might be a while before we figure out what happened to the boy." Jiraiya said as he left through the window.

' _Either way, Minato is most definitely rolling around in his grave right now.'_ the Hokage thought dejectedly as he returned back to his paperwork.

* * *

Choji and Shikamaru had just finished with their team's practice, before they'd decided to get some food. Choji had eaten chips during the entirety of their practice, yet, as was usual of an Akimichi, he was still hungry. Ino had decided not to come, as she had to tend to her family's store.

The pair decided to visit Ichiraku's, to honor the memory of their missing friend. Anyone who had ever talked to Naruto knew about his favorite food: Ichiraku's ramen.

"Five Naruto size orders of miso ramen, please." Choji told their waiter.

"I'll have a regular size miso." Shikamaru casually told her. "Troublesome. The boy who couldn't stop mentioning this food, has now gone missing. And now that he's missing, and stopped mentioning the greatness of ramen, we've finally gone to his favorite place. Too troublesome." Shikamaru sighed out.

"I guess you're right Shikamaru. Food is the best way to express yourself, though. Even if it's sadness at losing one of your friends." Choji said, as he sniffed at the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen of the small stand, "Looks like he was right too." Choji said, gazing at the kitchen hungrily.

Ayame came out of the kitchen with their food. "Have you seen Naruto anywhere?" she asked them as she set the steaming bowls down in front of them.

"Nope, no one has actually. The Hokage has declared him missing." Shikamaru told her as he began to slowly eat his food.

"I thought something must've been up, he's missed his lunchtime ramen-appointments for 5 days now!" Ayame said as she walked back to the kitchen to tell her father the news regarding their top customer. _'I guess that Pakura-lady must've not been able to find him. He probably disappeared before she even had the chance.'_ Ayame thought dejectedly, forgetting to tell the two genin about the orange-haired woman's meeting with Naruto.

Unbeknownst to her, and anyone else in Konoha, Pakura was the one responsible for the boy's disappearance. The ANBU hadn't thought to mention her presence to the Hokage, after all Suna was an ally of Konoha, they would _never_ capture one of Konoha's shinobi. Even the gate guards didn't think anything of the woman and her "apprentice" leaving Konoha in the middle of night.


	4. Chapter 4

**What's up! This is a time skip chapter, and is also my first attempt at a time-skip. Hopefully it's good! You guys can expect weekly or 10 day updates now. I'll explain the Bear-Cat thing, don't worry. Italics are for thinking and flashbacks; might have to change the previous chapters if I forgot to implement that hehe. The time skip might be two parts- it's turning out really long so far. (Ok finished this chapter I'm going to split the time skip into two chapters, otherwise, it'd be super long.)**

Chapter 4: Time Skip

Two ANBU members walked into a shady underground office, one with a mask signifying a Bear, the other with a Cat mask. They walked in a robotic motion, almost as if they'd been brainwashed, until they bowed before an old man.

In front of them, at a desk, sat Danzo Shimura, an older, wrinkly man with bandages covering the right half of his face. He wore a white robe, with a black coat covering it. Black bangs rested on the bandages covering his face. To the right of desk was his cane, whether caused by the shinobi life or old age, was unknown. On either side of his desk stood his guard, two shinobi that looked to be ANBU members. He commanded a fearful presence. It seemed as if he was a conniving, evil, old man.

"Report." Danzo told the ANBU bowing before him.

"Sir." They spoke simultaneously as they stood up, "We proceeded with the mission you assigned us. Reporting for duty."

* * *

 _Flashback (Night of Naruto's Capture):_

 _After Bear and Cat had left their task of monitoring Naruto, they began to return home._

 _Cat was walking down an abandoned street in the Uchicha district, when she was suddenly knocked out by a Root ambush. Three members of Root's stealth division easily accomplished the task. Many Root members were former ANBU, after all. Bea'r was obtained, similarly, without being noticed._

 _Fū Yamanaka, one of Danzo's top Root members, brought the two before him. He was a former member of the ANBU, and had the ability to use the versatile mind-abilities of the Yamanaka clan. He had orange hair in a ponytail, with a bandaged-sword across his back, and yellow eyes. He seemed to be Danzo's perfect soldier: an emotionless, loyal, shinobi._

 _After the two were placed before him, Danzo revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan. Formerly belonging to Shisui, a deceased Uchicha, Danzo used Kotoamatsukami on the sprawled out in front of him. He implanted the instructions to not mention Pakura's presence or her role in Naruto's disappearance to the Hokage. He also instructed them to only mention Pakura's capturing of the boy after three days had passed, to give the appropriate time to escape._

" _All to protect Konoha, and move my plans forward." he sighed out as his brain-washing mission began._

* * *

"Fū, please make sure they don't remember any of this, or our role in the boy's disappearance." he told the orange-haired man to his left as he waved him over.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." he told him as he moved in front of the two to proceed with his newly assigned task.

' _One step closer to where I want to be…yes, this is proceeding nicely. A perfect plan. Konoha will be respected by all."_ the crippled old man thought.

* * *

Meanwhile the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha was debating on whether he should send an undercover agent into Root, or not. _'On one hand, we might be able to disband his underground organization, but, the damage caused will be severe.'_ Hiruzen thought, scratching his forehead. _'It will show that we've control of all our shinobi, yet, I'm just not sure.'_

"Your decision Hokage-sama?" An ANBU member standing before him asked.

' _Yes, that's a good idea.'_ The Hokage thought to himself, "I want to…"

* * *

(Three Days after Naruto's arrival, Suna.)

Naruto woke up to shouting in his ear from his recently appointed, _favorite_ person in all of Suna.

"Get up Demon!" Leader shouted in his ear, lingering dangerously close to his bed, "Don't force me to make you!" he shouted, raising his fist.

Yes, he was joking. Yes, he really hated this man. Yes, if he had a kunai he would kill him and shave that disgusting beard. Not to mention carving _'Property of Naruto Uzumaki, Future Hokage'_ into his arm.

"Yes, Leader." Naruto said, jumping to attention.

"Good, Demon. Follow me, we need to work out your schedule." The huge man told him, "You've been _lazy_ recently, Demon." he said chillingly.

"I was uhh..." Naruto started to respond, "Examining the walls of my room! I need to know the sand if I'm to live in a sand-covered village!"

No response.

Suddenly, faster than you could scream, "Oh, shit!", he found himself on the floor- thanks to a hard punch to the head.

"Demon" Leader punched him in the stomach, "You.", he received another shot, "Will.", he was kicked in the stomach, turning him over, "Respect." Leader turned him over before punching him again, "Me!" he received a shot to the head, knocking him out cold. _'Another day in paradise.'_ Naruto thought sarcastically, before seeing stars.

* * *

Naruto woke up, chained to a desk, in a room with sand-covered walls, as well as the floor and roof. It was a room slightly larger than his own, though. With a desk, right in the middle, and a whiteboard on the wall directly in front of it. Standing next to the whiteboard was the devil: Leader.

"Leader, where am I?" Naruto asked the creepy man.

"Ah. For once a good question, Demon. You're in your new classroom." The aforementioned man said motioning to the room they were in, "This is where you'll l proceed with your first step in becoming a loyal Suna citizen. Learning the history of Suna."

Naruto sighed, he had just graduated and now he had _more_ school. _'Being captured sucks'_ he thought.

"You'll have biweekly tests. If you fail, you'll be _reminded_ what's at stake, and set back on track." Leader said ominously, "Suna history will last three months. Longer, and we'll have punishments.

Following Suna history will be: Famous Suna Shinobi, Manners, and lastly, Following Commands. In total these all will take a year." Leader told him.

Naruto began to sweat bullets, _'Darn it! I've never been good at tests!'_. "Umm… Leader? I've never been good at tests is passing a requirement? I don't want to be a Suna shinobi anyways."

"If you don't pass", Leader raised his fist, " _this_ will be reintroduced." Leader said ignoring the second part of Naruto's statement.

' _This guy's the worst'_ Naruto thought sighing, _'And he didn't even answer my second question! What a jerk!'_

Leader placed a book on Naruto's desk titled _The History of Suna,_ "Get learning, Demon!"

' _This book is bigger than any book I ever got in the Academy. Not that I ever read them anyways.'_ Naruto thought smiling, _'Wait… Did I even get any books in the Academy?_

* * *

(One week after arrival)

Naruto woke up at 5 A.M. Leader had given him an alarm four days previous. Leader designed a new schedule for him as they started his new "lessons". He was to start the morning with daily exercises: Leader said it was up to him for now- but eventually they'd have physical tests as well. Naruto decided on upping his normal morning exercise routine and settled on 5 sets of 50 pushups, 5 sets of 10 pull-ups, and 5 sets of 60 sit-ups. He was still a young teenager, after all.

After his exercises, at around 6:45, his breakfast would be slid under his cell-door. Mostly, it was a gooey white substance. Naruto was really missing Pakura's ramen visits, she hadn't come in a week!

After breakfast, at around 7:30, was 7 hours of _studying._ Naruto fell asleep a lot during this stage- Leader wasn't around to monitor him so no punishments… Right?

Then was lunch, another 45 minutes. The next 4 hours were supposed to be for himself, but they never gave him anything to occupy this leisure time. Maybe Pakura could bring him something?

The last 2 hours of the day were for dinner, another exercise routine (Naruto used a shortened version of his morning routine) and sleep.

Right before he began to proceed with his evening exercises, Pakura entered his cell. The orange-green haired woman had a shopping bag over her shoulder. Unfortunately, she had caught Naruto at a bad time: he was getting pummeled by Leader, over, and over, and over, and over again, right on his face.

"Demon! What have you been doing during this free time I've given you?! You're weak! You're useless! You definitely don't resemble anything _near_ a shinobi!" Leader yelled as he continued the one-sided fight.

Pakura was shocked, had Naruto suffered a week of being treated like this?! She ran towards the large man, "Get the hell off him Aoki! He's not a demon! He's definitely not a weapon! He's a person!" She shouted as she threw him to the ground, "You aren't a _'Leader'_ " she said mockingly, "You aren't even a Jounin!"

After a few kicks to the stomach in retaliation, Pakura forced the man to leave. _'What an excuse for a shinobi'_ she thought, shaking her head. She then noticed the bruised, battered face of the boy who was getting beat on. Bruises covered his whisker marks, and he had two black eyes. It seemed as if he hadn't been sleeping a lot either.

Pakura went to take the ramen out of her bag, "Here you go Naruto, ramen." she said handing him the ramen. If she had any doubt before, his slight smile at the mentioning of ramen made her feel he was grateful for her presence. Or at least her bringing him food.

"…Thanks" Naruto mumbled between bites of his favorite food. _'I still haven't forgiven her, but she's the only one who treats me like a human-being around here! I should at least speak when spoken to.'_ he thought as he continued slurping the warm noodles.

"No problem." she said smiling slightly. She motioned towards his newly acquired bruises, "What were Aoki's reasons for beating you like that?"

Naruto paused his eating and went to feel the spots she had referred to, "Oh these?"

She nodded.

Naruto cleared his throat and began to speak, "He wanted me to write 'Suna is great' 50 times. I did write it 50 times- except for I switched Suna with Konoha. He wasn't happy." Naruto said grinning, as he scratched the back of his head.

Pakura sat next to him on his bed, "Naruto you can stay loyal without telling Aoki about it. The less punishment the better, right?" _'It's not like he'll be loyal to anything after the time the council assigned for him to stay here passes, anyways.'_

Silence. _'Not this again.'_ Pakura thought. "Well if three statements are your maximum for today, I guess I'll have to fill in the gap." _'I can tell him about the stupid missions they've been giving me, maybe even my attempt to get him out of here.'_

Pakura lied down across the bed, still to the left of Naruto. The position showed off her ample chest, restrained by her sleeveless black top. "I'll tell you about the reason I've been gone, Naruto. The council has been assigning me longer missions, recently. They leave me little time to rest. The mission they had me do was a bodyguard mission, A-Ranked."

Pakura turned her head to look at Naruto, he was staring at his feet. _'Looks like I've got a long way to go. I need some more people to vent to anyways, though. Even more so if these missions continue on this upward-trend'_ she thought, turning her head back to stare at the ceiling. She was tired, being an Elite Jounin didn't mean you weren't human.

"You know I tried to get you out of here Naruto" Pakura told him.

Naruto lifted his head.

"Yup, I talked to the council- even the Kazekage himself trying to get you out of here. I even offered to take you as an apprentice to ensure your loyalty. Refused, of course." she sighed out.

Silence, still.

"I have to go rest Naruto. I'll be back with more ramen. I can't guarantee when though, the missions I've been receiving have only been getting harder, and longer." Pakura waved to him, "Stay strong, Naruto."

Naruto was alone, again.

* * *

(Two weeks after Naruto's arrival)

Naruto was currently staring at a blank piece of paper, covered in questions. _'I probably should of studied more instead of sleeping. Whoops'_ he thought, sighing. _'Well I should at least guess, let's take a look at those questions.'_

' _Hmmm… The name of the current Kazekage? A: Rasa… No, he sounds cooler than that, believe it! B: Tasa… That sounds exactly like the first name- definitely trying to trick me! Can't trick Naruto, though, believe it! C: Akuma… That's badass! Definitely C!'_ Naruto circled C.

' _Next: Suna relations with Iwa have been shaky in the past. True or false? Eh? Who's Iwa? False definitely! I would've heard of them if there had been conflicts between the two.'_ Naruto circled false confidently.

' _Puppets were first used in ninja techniques by Suna. True or false? Bahhh! This is too easy, wait until Leader sees me get a perfect store. Obviously false! Dolls could never be used by ninjas. It's a trick question!_ Naruto grinned at that answer, he was acing this test.

* * *

A couple hours later, Naruto stood up and handed the test to Leader. No words were exchanged as he handed the test to the intimidating man. After, he returned his desk to await the scoring.

5 minutes passed, then 10, soon enough 20 minutes had gone by and he was still without a grade. _'What's taking him so long all he has to do is write 100, and be done with it.'_

"Demon, come up here." Leader said chillingly as he also moved in front of his desk, looking down on Naruto's now 5'1 stature. "You've managed to impress me." Leader said waving him to take a look at the grade on his test.

Once Naruto saw what he had gotten, he paled.

"Eight out of 50, Demon. Eight out of _fucking_ , fifty!" Leader crumpled the paper up and threw it on the floor, "Trash, Demon! Just like you!"

Naruto didn't know what had happened next- it was a blurry memory. One time he remembered getting hit 2 times, another time 200 times; there was one constant though, he was always beaten.

As soon as he woke up though, he saw a smirking face staring right at him, right in front of his face. Apparently, he had ended up on the floor after being hit "Hello, again Demon." Leader had obviously not had a change of heart.

Leader grabbed his collar, "Do you still claim to be loyal to Konoha, Demon?! Do you?!

No response.

"They haven't sent anyone to recover you, I'll have you know. Seems to be one-sided if you ask me." Leader said as he walked out the door.

Naruto whispered an inaudible, "yes…" in regards to his loyalty to Konoha as Leader left the room. He didn't want to be pummeled on again, after all.

* * *

(1 month after his arrival)

Naruto was currently standing in front of Leader's desk, in the same room that he had failed the Suna History exam two weeks prior. He had been mentioning his loyalty to Konoha less frequently, after he learned of their reactions to his capture. He had just finished his retake of the Suna History exam, and was waiting upon the man in front of him, seated at the desk, to find out whether he had failed or passed.

"Well, well, well, Demon. Looks like you finally passed." Leader stamped a red _Passed_ next to the scribbled 44/50 on his exam. It was the highest score Naruto had ever gotten on any test- including those from the Konoha Academy.

He had little room for excitement, though, as Leader reached into the desk drawer, and pulled out a Suna forehead protector signifying a Suna shinobi.

"Here you go, Demon. Here's your ticket to your new life." Leader handed him the headband.

Naruto took the headband, and placed it in his brown shorts. Naruto still wore his brown shorts that Pakura had gotten him the day of his capture. Those, and a toss-up between the dark-green and orange t-shirts that she'd gotten him. Usually it was the orange one, though.

"Demon, you have to put the headband on! You're a Suna shinobi now, start acting like one!" Leader shouted at him.

"No thanks." Naruto responded curtly. He was rarely rebelling against his orders, anymore, only the ones regarding Suna did he stand up to. Still, though, his responses had been getting briefer during the last month, as if he was scared to be beaten.

"Ok, Demon. Then we'll have to do something a little more permanent to show your loyalty." Leader reached into his desk, drawer again. This time, he pulled out a metal rod with the word Suna on the end.

' _Is that a branding iron?!'_ Naruto thought frantically, _'I heard about those being used on prisoners when I studied Suna History, apparently they hurt a ton!'_ he began to sweat at the thought of Suna being tattooed on his body. _'I have to do something!'_

"Leader? I didn't mean that- I'll put the forehead protector on." he placed the headband over his arm, "See? No need for that thing." Naruto said pointing to the Suna rod.

"No this'll teach you, Demon." Leader said holding him down with one hand, he was unnaturally strong. Leader then used a Fire Jutsu, to heat the iron up, and then, after taking the orange-shirt off Naruto, upper right side of his chest.

' _Gahhhhhh'_ Naruto grit his teeth, as the heat overwhelmed his senses. Tears began to flow out of his eyes, he'd never felt this much pain before. The villages had never _branded_ him before. Soon, the heat began to fade, and he ventured into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Naruto awoke in his bed, fully-clothed once more. Remembering the events that caused him to lose consciousness he reached for the right side of his chest. He was greeted with a rough texture, outlining he could see that it was words.

' _Seems that I now belong to Suna'_ he thought, amidst chuckling lifelessly. _'Leader is right about one thing. They definitely haven't sent anyone after me or I'd be out of here by now. The old man probably forgot about me. They probably don't even realize I'm gone…'_ he thought rubbing the back of his head. A look at the clock: 10:38 P.M.

' _One day, I'll get out. Where I'll go, though, or when I have no clue…'_ he though as he lied his head down and fell asleep. One thing hadn't change over his duration in the prison- he still slept like a rock.

* * *

Naruto woke up to orange bangs resting over his head, as he rubbed his eyes he noticed a pair of amber eyes were staring at him, not far from his head. Naruto retreated from the eyes, he didn't want anyone noticing the Suna mark on his chest- and his shirt was getting tighter during the last month. He was now nearing 5'2.

"Ramen, Naruto." Pakura said.

Naruto still waited for her to give it to him, he was extra-cautious after the branding. Pakura definitely wasn't working for Leader, yet, Leader could always be watching. This forced him to be hesitant, even with ramen.

Pakura handed him the hot bowl of noodles. "I sealed this one from a nice restaurant- I forgot the name, though."

Once he'd acquired his food, Naruto began slurping, albeit noticeably slower.

Pakura immediately realized that she'd have to do all the talking, again. Not that she minded, she would've liked to hear the blonde-boy speak, though.

"Sorry about not visiting you sooner Naruto. Like I said last time, ever since I began visiting you here I've been getting harder and longer missions. I've been getting fringe S-rank missions now! S for suicide!"

Naruto chuckled at that, dark humor had become more appealing to him after his recent affairs. He did worry though, currently Pakura was the only constant in his life after being imprisoned, even if she was the one who did capture him. She visited him, brought him ramen, even talked to him! Even in Konoha, there was no one who did that for him!

"I'm going to be gone a lot more than I have been." she said, beginning to pace around the room as she frowned.

"I know I haven't seen you much recently- but once I get over the hump of these missions I'll be able to visit more." she said stopping to stand in front of where he was sitting on his bed.

"Stand up really quick, Naruto."

He did. He finished his ramen, after all.

"Look at that! You're going to be taller than me soon!" She raised her hand for a high-five, which Naruto hesitantly returned.

The contact warmed her heart, she was getting closer to the boy! _'Next time he'll be actually talking to me'_ she mused silently.

Pakura walked to the door, waving to Naruto "Gotta go Naruto, I'll bring double the ramen next time for the amount of time I expect to be gone." she said, smiling brightly, as she exited the room, not before she heard something from the mute-boy, though.

"Thanks, Pakura. Be safe." Naruto mumbled falling back to sleep.


End file.
